Koyo-Gunkan-Book-Cover-by-Kosaka-Masanobu-1616

Word-mono-no-fu-no-michi-in-Koyo-Gunkan-by-Kosaka-Masanobu-1616

General Kosaka Danjo Masanobu by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The is a record of the military exploits of the Takeda family, compiled largely by the Takeda vassal Kōsaka Danjō Masanobu, and completed in 1616 by Obata Kagenori. It provides some of the most detailed descriptions and statistics of warfare in the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

available today. The term '' Bushidō'' was first used in ''Kōyō Gunkan''. The chronicle describes each of the Takeda's major battles, chronicling not only strategy and tactics but the outcomes as well. It describes the Chinese matchlock arquebuses used at Uedahara in 1548, making that the first field battle in Japan to see the use of firearms. And the chronicle tells of the famous one-on-one skirmish fought by Takeda Shingen against Uesugi Kenshin at the fourth

battle of Kawanakajima The were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 to 1564. Shingen and Kenshin contested each other for control of the plain of Kawanakaj ...

in 1561. Having broken through Takeda's forces, Uesugi Kenshin found his way to Shingen's command tent, where he engaged Shingen directly, slashing at him with his sword. Shingen deflected the attack with his iron war fan, and reached for his own sword. A Takeda retainer then speared Kenshin's horse, forcing him to retreat. In one section, the chronicle gives a detailed breakdown of the entire Takeda army in 1573, counting everything from pages and banner bearers to kitchen staff, horse doctors, and finance commissioners. According to the document, the 33,736 members of the Takeda army included; * 9,121 horsemen * 18,242 followers for the horsemen * 884 ashigaru (foot-soldiers) within the ''hatamoto shoyakunin'' (personal attendants to the lord) * 5,489 other ashigaru The detailed breakdown of the army also provides an interesting look into the hierarchy of retainers or allies within such a force. The ''Heihō Okigusho'', contained within the chronicle, and attributed to general Yamamoto Kansuke, is one of Japan's earliest treatises on martial arts, along with tactics and strategy. It provides practical advice towards the wielding of sword, spear, gun and bow for the individual warrior rather than for the strategy of an entire troop. Sections by Kosaka Masanobu express his views on the warrior code in relation to the connection between lord and vassal. He compares Shingen to the ideal lord, and contrasts him to his son Takeda Katsuyori, whose poor leadership quickly led to the downfall of the clan.

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